


Phantom Of The Ruby

by KinsleeTheNormalHuman



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, M/M, Slow Burn, caring for sick Infinite, so excuse any grammar errors about it, tried to keep Rookie gender neutral
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 17:11:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20567936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KinsleeTheNormalHuman/pseuds/KinsleeTheNormalHuman





	1. Chapter 1

A groan escaped the weakened jackal as he tried to force his eyes open. His whole body ached with terrible pain. Things were fuzzy and terribly bright when he managed to crack them open. He curled his fingers into a fist, feeling the pain surge through his entire body from that little movement. He winced, but it only sent another wave through him. He was pretty dinged up. After regaining some level of nulled constant pain, he managed a glance around.

The room was simple, to say the most. He noticed a table, a counter, and what seemed to be a door at the opposite side of the room. A wooden door. Something he could easily break down if it wasn’t for the feeling he had been hit by a truck. He looked directly next to him to see a glass of water, which was odd. He couldn’t even reach for it no matter how thirsty he was. Which he definitely was. He looked down, to see he was in a bed. The quilt covering him was a variety of bright colors. He hated it. He wanted to burn it immediately when given the chance. He closed his eyes again to block out the atrocious sight, and soon found himself slipping out of consciousness again.

Once he woke up again, he heard… Whistling? And the simmer of a pot. It was just as much of a struggle to open his eyes as it was the first time. He glanced over to see a figure standing in front of a stove, stirring a pot. He gritted his teeth and wanted to scream at them. He held his tongue, to make sure that if they knew he was awake they wouldn’t be curious. After that thought, is when he recognized the figure. The hero. The one that defeated him in battle. He let out a growl, hurting his throat from the simple noise. The hero perked, and they turned to see the jackal glowering at them. A smile came across their face. The injured jackal then passed out again, from anger and weakness.

Quite a bit of time passed before the jackal found himself conscious again. This time, it wasn’t so hard to open his eyes. After realizing it, he tried to sit up, met with tremendous amounts of pain all over his body. He snarled, falling back to his lying position, shutting his eyes tightly. He wanted to pass out again from the pain but willed himself to live through it. He felt a hand rest on his forehead, with a gentle rubbing following. Even with how sore he was, there was no pain with the soothing hand. With his state of mind, he allowed the hand to soothe him, muttering something he didn’t even understand. The hand was suddenly gone, and the jackal felt its absence immediately. A whimper escaped him before he bit his tongue. Stupid animal instincts. After but a moment, he felt something cold and soft rest where the hand once was. It was a cloth, from what he could feel with his eyes closed. It felt great on his burning head. The calmness flooded him as he fell back into his frequent unconscious state.

When he awoke again from the blinding sunlight that again poured into the room. He squinted and lifted his arm to shield him from it. It was sore, but it wasn’t nearly as bad before. He glanced at it and noticed it was wrapped up and down with fresh bandages. When he felt the cloth on his head, he grabbed it off of him and set it on the counter next to the water. That’s when he finally noticed his missing mask.

He covered his damaged eye, and sat up, ignoring the pain from the sudden jerk. He looked left and right, trying to find it. He glanced over the side of the bed and saw it. His mask was split in half, but it was seemingly put back together with… Some sort of adhesive. He quickly picked it up and placed it back on his face. The hero… They had seen him without his mask. He slammed his hand down on the bed angrily. That’s when they came in through the wooden door and halted in their tracks when they noticed him sitting up. Another smile came across their face.

“Why am I here?!” Infinite snarled, hating the smile on their face. “You’ve kidnapped me, haven’t you?! What do you plan on doing to me?! I will not give myself up so easily-”   
The hero started cackling. They were laughing so hard. They held their mouth, trying not to offend their guest. They walked over to him, and the jackal pulled away, pinning himself against the wall against the bed.

“Stay back, you! I won’t hesitate to-” He raised his hand to summon his Phantom Ruby powers, but nothing happened. He looked at his hand, confused. Then he grabbed his chest, feeling the absence of the jewel. He gasped and glared at the hero again. “What have you done with it?! Where’s the Phantom Ruby?!”

The hero lost their smile, and seemed more… hesitant. They scratched their back and shrugged. They knew it was destroyed in the wreckage from Eggman’s attack… But the jewel on his chest had been missing since he found him. The jackal was not happy with his shrug as a response.

“Tell me before I rip you apart, you pathetic-” The hero’s ears perked, and their expression was suddenly an icy stare that shot daggers into Infinite’s soul. He stopped his insult, staring at them in silence. Once it had gone on for a minute, the hero looked at the fridge, and back to Infinite, gesturing to it.

“What?” Infinite snarled. The hero rolled their eyes, and walked over, opening it. They brought out a bowl with plastic over it and pointed to it.

“... Are you… Trying to feed me?” Infinite questioned. The hero nodded, and brought it to the microwave, and put it in. Once it was done cooking, they brought it to Infinite and handed it to him.

Infinite stared at the soup, then at the hero. The hero smiled again, giving him a thumbs up. Infinite uncovered the soup and set the lid on the counter. The hero closed their eyes happily.

Then they felt the hot liquid cover their face and body, the bowl sitting on there head. They yelped, and wiped their eyes, looking at a cocky Infinite. His demeanor faded when he noticed his open eyes.

“I don’t need your charity. You’re nothing more than an obstacle in the way of my quest for power.” Infinite tried to get out of bed, and failed miserably, falling to the floor below with a loud thunk. The hero could’ve caught him if they wanted to. But they decided to drop the bowl on his head as he laid on the floor. The jackal snarled, feeling the bowl leave a bruise. Now that the hero was done being petty, they grabbed Infinite by the arms and pulled them back, even with Infinite fighting and growling.

“Unhand me, you filthy animal!” He barked, trying to free himself of the hero’s grasp. The hero smiled, and let him fall back on the floor with another thunk. The jackal grunted and glared at the hero. They took a bow, making it very dramatic. Infinite grabbed the hero’s leg, and dragged them closer, making them fall on their butt right next to him. They yelped and pulled their leg away from him. That made the jackal laugh. The hero was embarrassed and glared at him. It didn’t matter, as he still laughed at the sound they made. Seeing him… So happy relaxed the hero. He still had emotions other than anger and confidence, at least… 

After Infinite finished his chuckle fest, the hero again fought with him to get him back on the bed. Infinite kept trying to get up and fight the hero but failed miserably as the hero quickly overpowered him. To keep him from trying to get up, the hero tucked in the jackal tightly with his blanket. He squirmed around, trying to get free, but was too weak to do so. The hero held back a laugh and patted his head. Then, they cleaned up the spilled soup, and left the room, leaving Infinite to fall asleep after laying down and having nothing to do.


	2. Cleaning Up The Trash

  1. Sonic quickly caught up to him after a bit, wrapping his arm around their shoulder, giving his signature winning smile.

“Heya, Rookie- Er, I mean, Hero. You off to clean up some of the train wreck of the city?” They nodded in response, looking at the huge chunks of buildings skewed about on streets, in neighborhoods. It was gonna take a lot of work to fix this to be even a shell of its former glory. Sonic’s voice brought them out of their thoughts. “Well, I’m here to help. If you see an angry mob of people that you fought alongside trying to get me in a bed, pretend you haven’t seen me.” The two laughed together and started to work.

After about 3 hours of heavy lifting and planning with clean-up crew, the hero finally decided to take a break. Sonic waved him off and hypocritically told him to take a load off for awhile. It brought a smile to the hero’s face. They decided to go over to where the battle had occurred, where they had launched themselves into a sun to save their friends. They didn’t mention the wicked sunburn they had gotten. Man, it hurt, but they weren’t about to let themselves be babied and coddled back to health. They had done that enough before the attack, and it made them vulnerable. Weak. They didn’t want to feel like that again.

The hero took a load off on a nearby chunk of what used to be Eggman’s base. They pulled out an apple and bit into it. It was sweet enough to make them smile. Who would’ve thought this place could be as relaxing as it was now, considering what had happened. The hero kicked a piece of rubble nearby into the gaping hole left by the missing tower. It went tumbling and soon hit the bottom with a loud thunk. Another bite of their apple and another chunk sent into the hole. The hero soon ran out of room to bite the apple, and small enough chunks to kick. They chucked their apple into the abyss and saw it explode as it hit the bottom. Then they heard a low groan.  
It was so sudden and quiet it almost didn’t seem to register. They stared down the hole, trying to see if maybe someone had fallen. They shot their grappling line against the wall and jumped down to investigate.

When they reached the bottom, they ran over to where the apple was shattered. They lifted the sheet of metal it had hit and saw some concrete underneath. It was very cracked, looking as if it was ready to crumble. Maybe it was just the concrete shifting… They were just about to call out when it was swallowed by a sudden yelp, and a cave-in, bringing the hero below the surface, and into the underground lab.

When the hero hit the floor, they quickly curled up defensively to shield themselves from any remaining falling debris. Once it seemed to have settled, the hero looked around to see where they had ended up. It was dark, the little amount of light shining from the hole that was just made didn’t help much. There was a faint glow in the distance, seemingly from an old machine. The hero carefully lifted themselves from their ball and crept over to where it was coming from.

Once they reached the glow, it was a small area filled with… Tubes? Did they seem to be big enough to hold a person? It made the hero uncomfortable. They wanted to tuck and run, but they willed themselves forward. If someone was here, they were going to help.

The Hero carefully stepped around debris, broken glass from the tubes and other things that looked like he’d need to go to the hospital for if he got cut by it. The place was surprisingly big, and it was obvious it was some kind of underground lab that Eggman had used. There was no chance someone had gotten in here… It had to be his imagination then. They were just about to turn around before another shift in the structure caused the hole he came out of to be covered up. Now, it was horribly dark, and the way in was no longer an exit. Great

They reached down and picked a tool from their belt. And just like that, a small beam of light shot out from their flashlight. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. They’d need to find a new way out without causing the whole lab to collapse on top of him, so shooting his way out wasn’t an option… They began to wander down the maze-like lab, looking over everything to make sure he didn’t trip and fall.

But, being as clumsy as they were, they did trip and fall into a control panel next to a tube, bumping a switch and hitting the floor with a thud. They grumbled, rubbing the arm that had absorbed the impact. With a sudden flash, blinding lights came on above them, and caused the hero to yelp and shield themself in fear. After a moment or two, they realized they had just turned the lights on. What luck!

The Hero crawled to their feet, turning off their flashlight and looking around. No one was there. They did see a doorway in the distance, and he smiled. That must be the exit! They quickly made their way over but stopped dead in their tracks when they caught glimpse of a footprint on the floor. A bloody footprint, with an all too familiar symbol of an infinite sign printed on it. The thought of the monster jackal roaming around this lab, watching from the shadows… It sent a shiver of fear down The Hero’s spine. His gaze followed the trail of footprints over to a tube. It held a dark figure inside, hooked to wires and chains. The silhouette was easily recognized as Infinite, the one who used the Phantom Ruby to try and destroy the world. But his signature mask was in two pieces on the floor… It almost felt wrong to see him without it. Like a breach of privacy… The Hero couldn’t help but wander closer to get a better look. Their stare couldn’t break away from the unconscious face of the Jackal. It was… Such a peaceful look. Almost like he was dead. Which he probably should be, considering the blood staining his chest where the Ruby once was. It looked like Eggman had ripped it from Infinite to use it in his last resort… 

The Hero felt a rush of concern for the Jackal. Was he dead? Did Eggman leave him here to die? They began to fiddle with the control panel next to the tube, and a strange liquid began to drain from the chamber. Okay, he must have been suspended in that state then…

Once the chamber was empty, the tube ascended into the ceiling to reveal Infinite’s beaten, bloody, and damaged body. The limp body began to fall to the floor, but The Hero snatched him up before he could hit it. The faint breath of the jackal could be heard. So he was alive… They couldn’t leave him here to die. But they had to act fast! Who knew if he still had open wounds? He could bleed out soon if he didn’t get him somewhere fast.

Then it hit them. No hospital would take in the monster who did this to their beloved city. And no freedom fighter would take him in. The Hero… Had to do this on his own. They had to save the life of the guy that almost killed him like, 3 times. Ouch.

They carefully hoisted Infinite’s body over their shoulder and made their way to the exit. Once they got out, The Hero returned to the little apartment they had and began to nurse and bandage the jackal. They even did research on how they should go about it… How to clean wounds, effectively bandage, and other medicinal stuff they never thought they’d need. By the time Infinite had woken up weeks after being found, he was nursed back to a condition where his body could heal on its own with time. It was honestly incredible what The Hero’s determination was capable of…


End file.
